Noun

• S: (n) motivation, motive, need (the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior) "we did not understand his motivation"; "he acted with the best of motives"
• S: (n) motif, motive (a theme that is repeated or elaborated in a piece of music)
• S: (n) motif, motive (a design or figure that consists of recurring shapes or colors, as in architecture or decoration)
• direct hypernym / inherited hypernym / sister term

Adjective

• S: (adj) motive, motor (causing or able to cause motion) "a motive force"; "motive power"; "motor energy"
• S: (adj) motivative, motive, motivating (impelling to action) "it may well be that ethical language has primarily a motivative function"- Arthur Pap; "motive pleas"; "motivating arguments"